Title: The Affairs of Wizards (pt 2 of 3): Confessions and Sins.
Featuring: Desade
Date: 3/24/11-3/25/11
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE (vs. Lance Marshall)

Thursday, March 24, 2011 8:33 PM local time
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

"Air Lufthansa is proud to announce the arrival of Flight 618 from Frankfurt, Germany, now arriving at Terminal 1."

Alexandra Pierce didn't get nervous. She'd fought men three times her size, taken on better-armed, better-trained competition both in and outside the ring, sometimes against seemingly insurmountable odds, and it didn't affect her. She could plan for it, prepare for it. She'd know what she was facing. If the need called for it, there was very little she'd be afraid of trying, and she never thought standing in an airport in a far-off country and waiting for a little redhead would bring about a little, nervous smile. She felt like a kid on Christmas morning.

The tall redhead waited at the arrival gate, clad head-to-toe in a dark abaya, the traditional, robe-like garment common to women in this part of the world. Usually, she might have eschewed the conservative garb, but over the last few days, her alabaster skin and dark red hair had attracted far more attention than she expected. Everyone on the street knew she was American â€" moreover, that she was one of the Americans in town for the professional wrestling show. For someone so used to her anonymity, the attention proved more than a little unsettling. The dress allowed her a measure of solace, which was just as well, because those few people in PRIME who would tolerate her for any length of time were just about sick of hearing about her excitement over Amy's impending arrival.

The passengers disembarked in fits and starts, and Alex liked to imagine what Amy would look like when she came down those steps. With layovers, it was a twenty-six hour trip from San Francisco, and she was likely to be bone-tired and maybe a little cranky from jetlag. Pierce imagined the little redhead would be wrapped in one of her all-consuming hooded sweatshirts, her face wreathed by shadow. She'd make some smart-mouthed comment about Alex's dress. And then they'd kiss â€" they'd always, always kiss in these daydreams, the music swelling as two lovers long separated by tremendous distance came back together. She almost wished it was sunset, just so it'd happen as she imagined it.

Alex did not think that Campbell would debark laughing, a playful shove at the shoulder of another woman â€" one that Pierce certainly did not imagine she'd see. As was usual, Kathryn Shaw was the center of attention among the flight attendants. Alex figured Shaw knew them all by name by now, and she'd likely already started to find pressure points for them. It was simply what she did.

So what pressure point had she found in Amy after three years? What possible button was there that would make Amy want to do anything but punch her in the face?

Hesitant steps carried Alex to meet them, and only the barest snippet of their conversation drifted to her.

"Bye Sven!" Kathryn waved. "I'll look you up next time I'm in Frankfurt!"

"Why do you do that?" Amy quickened her steps as they moved away from the plane, lowering her voice slightly.

"Do what?"

"You're never going to see that guy again."

"Probably not, no," Shaw conceded, her tone matter-of-fact. "I just like the idea that he'll jerk off thinking of me." Kathryn mostly matched Amy's pace, even though she was wearing boots to the smaller woman's sneakers. "It's empowering to know that can do that after so short a trip, especially when I didn't have to do much to earn it."

"Didn't do much? You basicallyâ€"why am I even having this conversation with you?"

They passed the woman in the all-consuming garb and neither took much notice, until she followed and Kathryn bent slightly to say something not even Pierce could hear. "Noticed," Amy responded, turning with her fists balled. "Can I helpâ€"" The abaya didn't cover Pierce's eyes, though, and she hadn't bothered to hide them. "Al?"

Pierce lowered her niqāb, unveiling her smile as she crossed the distance between them. "Well, hi," she said.

"You're a sight for sore eyes." Amy smiled sweetly. "Well, not in that getup, but you know what I mean."

"You'd think they didn't get many gingers around here." Her touch slid down Amy's arms, taking the other woman's hands in her own. "Missed you."

"You too. But, uhh..." Campbell gestured over her shoulder. "Yeah. We've got company."

Kathryn raised both hands. "Don't mind me, I'm just a bystander."

Alex spared the brunette a brief look. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Did you fly all the way from California together?"

"Uh, yeah." Amy dropped her gaze down. "Sheâ€""

"Amy and I kissed and made up while you were away," Shaw interjected. "I figured with Golgotha still out there, safety in numbers, right?"

"Absolutely." Alex raised a brow, turning to stride down the concourse. "The show starts in a half-hour or so. I reserved the top of the second hour, so we still have time."

Campbell gave the brunette a brief death glare, hurrying to follow. She fell into place at Alex's side, and she almost took the talker woman's elbow. "Great. Should, uh, we be expecting company?"

"Devin invited you." Alex stretched out a hand to the side for Amy. "Means he's got something in mind, certainly."

"I can come with." There was a bit of eagerness in Shaw's grin. "Find out what I can."

Pierce stopped, turning with a lifted brow. "I'm not sure that's a great idea. Randall watches, and I was kind of hoping to have some aloâ€""

"Might as well let her come along." Amy shrugged. "She'll show up whether we want her to or not, and I'm not expecting much alone time in a PRIME locker room."

The other redhead turned briefly, glancing down to Campbell, but she didn't say anything, just nodding her assent.

Kathryn grinned as they reached the curb. "It'll be like old times, only without Amy beating me up for looking at her funny."

"There's still time." Campbell surrendered her bag to the driver, while Shaw circled around with the man for a brief, murmured conversation that forced a sour glare from the little redhead. "She never fucking stops. I just spent almost a day on a plane with her, and I swear, she must haveâ€""

Alex wrapped her arm around Amy's waist, drawing a surprised squeak. "I could always tell her to take a car of her own." She splayed the fingers of her palm wide, sliding a bit low on the other woman's back as she leaned in, just cresting the hip. "I only need a few minutes..."

"Al..." Amy squirmed away. "This kind of stuff isn't exactly tolerated in this part of the country, so if we could not get stoned toâ€""

"They don't do that here. And let them stare. I'm not ashamed to be kissing the prettiest woman in the country." She leaned down, touching Amy's cheek. "Besides, I picked up something I wanted to try out," she murmured.

"You areâ€"what's gotten into you lately?" Amy twisted away, opening the car door. She pressed a brief peck to Alex's cheek, slipping in. "Later, okay?"

Kathryn was already inside, slowly crossing her legs with a languid grin. "Go on," she implored. "Don't let me stand in the way."

Alex came in after, foregoing her seatbelt to instead straddle the little redhead's legs. "Did I mention I missed you?"

"A-Al..." Campbell groaned despite herself at the touch. "I'm not gonna... not while Kathryn is right fuckingâ€""

"Nothing I haven't seen before," Shaw said, not looking up. Her words were maybe a touch scathing. "Maybe I'll pick up some pointers on surreptitious backseat fucking."

Amy wanted to scold them both, but didn't budge, pushing lightly against Pierce. "Alex, I'm serious. You're making a fool of yourself. Stop."

Beside them, Kathryn cringed at the choice of words. Pierce sighed, dropping her head. "Sorry," she murmured, touching her forehead to Campbell's shoulder. "I just..." She slid off to sit next to the other redhead, struggling to pull the abaya over her head. Beneath, she wore jeans and a yellow Sinestro logo t-shirt. "Sorry." She looked out the window. "I overstepped, and I just..." She sighed again. "Nevermind."

A beyond-awkward silence hung between them for a beat, but Amy leaned her head onto Alexandra's shoulder, dropping her voice to something between a mumble and whisper. "I... sorry. It's jet lag or something. I'm just..." she sighed. "I need some time alone with you, and she isn't helping."

"Hey, I'm just sitting here." Kathryn had her BlackBerry to her ear, conversing in murmurs so low either would have had to strain to hear. "Not very often I'm the third wheel."

"Kathryn, please." Alex's voice was tinged with frustration. Her hand dropped to Campbell's knee. "I just miss you sometimes." The hand didn't go any higher, and Amy swallowed enough of her guilt to allow it. "I really hate being apart like this. I feel like I'm never there long enough to be there for you."

"You... it's fine." Amy sighed. "We're... it's..." she whimpered. "God, I need you at home."

"Just a few more weeks."

"Too many already. Al, Iâ€""

The car jerked to a halt, and Pierce peered out the window. "They usually have cameras out there to catch me arriving. You sure you're ready for this?"

Shaw grinned as she tapped the end call. "They gave me a three-card contract on the phone, possibly more if I want it. Plus some exposure on the site andâ€"oh, I'm sorry, were you two still doing the mopey, I-miss-you thing?"

"Could you be a human being for two fucking seconds?"

"Sorry," she said, in a way that made her sound not sorry at all. When the driver opened the door, she slithered up to her feet, a hand on the man's chest but her eyes back in the car. "I'm going to go put my game-face on. You kids have fun."

Alex was next out, extending a hand Amy hesitated to take. "You didn't have to come all this way to do this, you know."

"Like I was going to pass up a chance to see you? Especially afterâ€""

"Tomorrow, I'll be back to a place where real wrestlers compete, and this place will once again be in my rearview mirror...

It was Amy that turned her head to the side, her brow wrinkling. "What the hell?"

"Is that... you?"

"Last I checked, I was standing right here."

Realization dawned on both redheads' faces at about the same time. "Unless..." Amy began.

"That son of a bitch," Alex said. She was already moving towards the entrance. "I'll go out, give you a chance toâ€""

Campbell nodded, grabbing a kid in a blue PRIME t-shirt. "I need to find the crowd entrance."

"Love you!" Alex called, turning the corner at top speedâ€"which, for her, was saying quite a lot.

The staffer led Campbell through the building, and she caught sight of her doppelgänger in one of the monitors. "That doesn't even look like me!"

The first notes of AFI's "Prelude 12/21" echoed through the building as Alex made her entrance, and Amy stifled a sigh. "Please don't let her hate me after tonight," she murmured.

"I'm sorry?" the staffer asked, leading Campbell through the building.

"I said please tell me I'm not going to have to lose weight after tonight," Amy said lamely.

---

Alexandra Pierce and Amy Campbell proceeded to annihilate the impostor in the middle of the ring that night, but Campbell's conflict with Roxy Phoenix, Pierce's match, and a reunion of sorts with Lance Marshall hardly left then with time for the kind of talk Amy wanted (and feared), and a show-ending ambush by Devin Shakur left Alexandra at Al Noor Hospital for some precautionary tests.

Pacing in a waiting room was not how Amy had envisioned this night going. Tears, sadness, heartache â€" she imagined all of those, but not because the woman she loved was injured. Although, given the history of their relationship, that wasn't entirely out of the question.

The doctor's name was Khalid, Amy thought. Or Khalil, maybe? He was a fifty-something man of Arabian descent, a touch of white at his temples, enough to make him look distinguished. He didn't smile as he approached. "You are Ms. Pierce's friend, yes?"

Amy nodded, not trusting herself not to correct him. "Is she okay?"

"We think she might have broken a rib. Her breathing is a bit belabored, and we have her on an oxygen feed, but given time, she will make a full recovery."

"Can I see her?"

"Of course. She has asked for you. Come, I will take you." The man led her to the room she'd been allotted, as private as the hospital emergency room would allow. "No physical exertion, and I want to keep her here at least tonight for observation."

Alex looked so small there in the sheets, a tube in her nose to feed air to her lungs. The makeup she wore for the broadcast had been mostly wiped away, just a touch left above her eyes, making it look like she'd been punched. Her hair was wet, matted against her. She looked pitiful. "Hey..." she said quietly, still reaching out a hand. "I'm sorry about... about all of... this."

"You've got nothing to be sorry for." Amy eased into a chair beside the bed, pressing lips to the crook of Pierce's elbow. "Don't even think that."

"I asked you to come out here so we could spend time together." Alex tipped her head to the side. "I knew â€" we both knew â€" that Devin would try something like this. It's why you weren't going to come, and I understood that, what with Rampage coming up and all. But then you changed your mind and... I didn't think we'd be halfway around the world and still be in the hospital."

"I had a feeling, but I was hoping it'd be Kathryn, if any of us," Campbell sighed. "It'd make things easiâ€"errâ€"uhm. Look, Al, I've... I really shouldn't be here." The words had slipped out, and nothing Amy could do seemed to catch the rest in time. "I don't deserve this presence. Not with what I've..." She sighed again, her tears welling, and managed to swallow the admission â€" just not the guilt. "I don't want you to think I've been cold."

"I don't." Pierce's voice was always a quiet thing, but it was usually the quiet of a snake before it struck, not cottony-soft like it was then. "Babe, you flew twenty-six hours with a woman I'm pretty sure we've both wanted to kill at some point in the last two years. If you're tired and a little bit cranky, I completely understand. I just... okay, maybe I wanted a quickie before we went in, but it's just as well we didn't, otherwise we wouldn't have been there to stop Devin's shitty masquerade."

"It was for the best. Sex with me isn't a good option right now."

"Now, my experience with this kind of thing is kind of limited, but sex with you is pretty much always a good option." She reached out to touch Amy's hand. "Is there something else wrong? You seem on edge. Moreso than usual."

"No." The response was immediate, but dishonest, and she changed it just as quickly. "Well, yes. A lot. Mainly the fact that Kathryn flew here. She didn't want me to have the chance to tell you..."

Pierce sat up, a wince creasing her features. "Ah, dammit," she hissed. "I knew she was up to something. What is it? What did she do now?"

By the time Alex finished speaking, Amy was fully crying. She'd tried hard to hold it back, but the best she could hope was to keep quiet. "This isn't the time to say," she whimpered. "You need to rest, andâ€""

"What is it?" Pierce's brows drooped, her own eyes shining. "If she hurt you, if she did anything... you need toâ€""

"Okay." Kathryn Shaw was already breezing into the room. "I just got off the phone with Lisa Tyler. They'll leave you off the New Delhi card so you can recuperate. The hospital says they'll keep the press away, and I found a gorgeous man whoâ€"" The brunette stopped, staring down at the two redheads, both on the verge of tears. "â€"and she couldn't even stay quiet for four hours after we landed, could she? Dammit, Amy, I knew you were going to do this the moment I found out you were going."

"Kathryn!" Alex's bark was quieter than it might have been, and she pressed a hand to her side after delivering it. "I don't know what you threatened her with, butâ€""

Shaw laughed. "Threatened her? Is that what she told you? That I threatened her?"

"I didn't tell her anything yet." Amy stood, snarling. She looked like she was ready to take a swing. Instead, she was too weak in the knees to get any distance, and moved to touch Alexandra's arm, but decided against it at the last moment, her hand dropping to the mattress.

"Well, don't even thinkâ€"" Kathryn began.

"I lied to a husband, but I'm not keeping this from her."

"Amy, whatâ€""

"Kathryn has a video of she and I..." Amy blurted. Tears and a collapse against Pierce's bed followed. "I don't remember it, I don't know how I got there, but... Al, I can't... I'm so fucking sorry."

"You..." It took a lot to shock Alexandra Pierce into silence, but she was well stunned, her voice quiet, like the words were retreating into her. "I..." She didn't have words, and if either of them were looking in those eyes, they might have actually seen her shatter.

It was Shaw who stepped forward. "Jesus Christ, you have to tell her the whole story."

"There's more?" Alex turned her head away, tears wetting the pillow. "What, did you fucking post it on the Internet?"

"I don't even believe the whole story," Amy hissed. "For all I know, you could've been the one who drugged me. I woke up cuffed to your bed, and your phone had the fucking video onâ€""

"Wh-what..." The other redhead screwed her eyes shut, her tongue thick in her mouth. "How could..." She retreated in on herself, arms and legs retracting. "What happened."

Shaw was the only one who didn't move closer, caught between concern and fear. "We didn't want to do anything. I was drugged, dammit. We both were, and now you're going to blame me? I had a drug test taken that morningâ€""

Amy's lip curled. "Convenient."

"No, necessary, because I knew you'd make this about me. Just like always. God forbid I could be a victim too, right?"

"Will ONE of you fuckingâ€"" The shout caused Alex to inhale sharply. "Ah, goddammit." She hissed her breath through her teeth. "The next one of you who shouts instead of fucking telling me what happened might as well leave this hospital room. I want to know why you wouldâ€"I deserve to know what happened. I need to."

"I was at the condo, and I thought about drinking. With Malcolm backstabbing us the way he did, I..." Amy swallowed. "I didn't, though. That's the last thing I remember clearly. I put the wine down and got a bottle of water, and I was gonna go for a run. Please, Al, I didn't... I deserve anything you decide to do, for all I've done, but I promise you..."

Pierce swallowed hard. "Please, justâ€"" She didn't trust herself to look at the other woman. "So you went over there, and..."

"And her water was roofied, Lexi." Kathryn softened her voice. Something about seeing her proud friend-turned-enemy-turned-who-knows-what this small even broke through her façade. "Someone â€" under orders from Bronze, most likely â€" drugged the water your own goddamn refrigerator. She wasn't... it's not her fault."

At least Alex could look at Kathryn. "And your water, too?"

"I have aâ€"" Shaw swallowed. She couldn't meet that gray gaze. "I have a water cooler, and they got to it, too."

"They who?"

"We don't know."

"You don't know. You don't fucking know?" Pierce was worked up, her already labored breathing coming too fast. She rolled to the side, coughing wetly. "And so you came here to... to keep herâ€"to keep me from knowing."

Shaw frowned, looking down. Her hands were folded at her waist. "I... yeah. I wanted to have someone for you to blame so you didn't think it wasâ€""

"So I didn't think it was you."

"So you didn't think it was her."

Another fit of coughing brought flecks of blood to her lips. Campbell reached out to touch her hand in concern. "Al, you need a nurse..."

Pierce snatched the hand away like she'd touched a stove. "I'm fine." She focused again on Shaw. "So you were drugged when you fucked her."

"That's not fair, Lexiâ€"she was drugged when I... when we were together, too."

Amy wasn't sure she'd ever felt so vulnerable. When Darcy caught her cheating with Alexandra, it had spared her having to lay herself bare as a liar by admitting the mistake. The tears didn't feel like they'd ever stop, and being in that state in front of Kathryn Shaw was humiliating. "I can't do this..." Campbell was midway into a panic attack, and she backed away from the taller redhead's bed. "I just... I can't. Seeing you like this, and her being here... I can't."

"No, please don'tâ€"" Alex looked that way only briefly, reaching out a hand. "Amy, I..." But the eloquent Spider had no words she could say for comfort.

"I can go," Shaw offered. "I'll set up something for Devin in New Delhi, and... will be around, I guess." Shaw slipped through the door before Amy could see straight enough to find the knob, leaving the two of them in the room together alone.

The distance between them may have only been five feet, but it felt further. "Amy, I..."

"I should go. You don't need to... to have me put you through this anymore."

Alex wiped at her eyes, still closed and directed away. "I still love you, it's just that..."

"That it's tainted now, and I'm proving to be the same trash I've always been," Amy said. "Drusilla fucked her when you two were together, and now I've done the same. There's no coming back from that, and you... I'll never stop regretting it. I just can't... can't face this."

"It's just that it hurts." The bedridden redhead looked back finally. "I know this is what they wanted, for you and I to... to be like this right now. But knowing that's what they want doesn't make me feel any better. My ribs are killing me, but I feel like... like my heart is worse. I want you to stay, but I'm afraid I'll... I'll smell her on you. The stink of what they did to us. And I don't want to look at you and have you think I hate you, so I'm afraid to look at all."

"You're so quick to believe it was a drugging and not just... not just my nature or something. Cheating seems to be what I do, I... it's a part of me somehow, and the excuse that I was drugged doesn't make it feel any better. I'll go." The smaller woman had nervous tremors in her right hand most of the time, but they were bad enough in that moment that she had to stuff it in her back pocket. "I'll... don't worry, my stuff will be gone by the time you're home." Campbell swallowed hard, pulling the door open with her free hand.

"Amy, waitâ€"" Pierce lifted her hand to the tube in her nose. "Just... I need some time to sort this out in my head. I don't know if they'll let me... let me travel, I know I'll miss the PRIME flight back in the morning. Just don't take it until we've talked about this. Face-to-face, not... not like this. That's all I ask. Just wait till tomorrow night. You've still got a week before your match with Karina. I just don't want to watch you leave from a hospital bed."

"Wait until it really sets in. You'll be glad I'm not here."

She pulled the oxygen clip off her index finger, scooting to the edge of the bed. "Tell me you'll stay or so help me, I will follow you until I pass out."

"That's not fair." Amy stopped in the doorway, but didn't turn.

"I'm not interested in being fair. I'm interested in making sure this doesn't end because some man I have never even met drugged your bottled water." She touched her bare foot to the tile. "You know I'm serious, Amy. You know I'll do this."

Campbell lowered her head, swiping the bangs out of her eyes. "What's to keep me from telling you I'll stay and then going anyway?"

"Other than the fact that you're the most genuine, honest person I know, whether you believe it or not?" Alex smirked. "I'll call Kathryn the moment you're out the door and have her make sure you're not on that plane."

"Please," Campbell squeezed her eyes shut as she left. "Don't make me... just don't follow me."

"Dammit, Amyâ€"" She stood, but teetered and fell back. "Fuck. Nurse!" She wheezed, her hand to her side. "Nurse!"

Amy turned in the hallway, her brows drawn in concern. Her mouth opened, but she couldn't find anything to say, and she spun back away, stepping aside from the cadre of nurses hurrying into the room. Her head was down as she made her way out of the hospital, hailing a cab to the hotel.

Up in the room, Alexandra was being fussed and prodded, her oxygen replaced, and the hospital staff all gave her the same look, the one that said she was in fact a moron for not taking care of herself. It didn't take long for the hubbub to attract Kathryn Shaw, who lingered in the doorway, afraid of looking two-faced if she showed concern. "Is there anything that I can do?" she finally asked.

"There are flights at 8:30 and 10:30 tomorrow. Make sure Amy isn't on either of them."

"I guess it didn't go well, then."

"Kathryn, please, just... for once, do what I ask? If she gets on that plane all by herself and spends twenty-five or thirty hours flying back, she'll convince herself she's making the right choice."

Kathryn nodded, sweeping the hair behind her ears. "And I take it we don't think she is?"

"She doesn't think she is. She's just bent-up about everything, and... and I'm going to change her -- ow, that pinches â€" her mind."

"Sit back, miss," the nurse commanded. "Sit back and breathe."

Pierce frowned. "Just make sure that she still in the country when these vultures let me loose. Anything shy of putting her on the terror watch list."

"I'm sure I'll think of something." Kathi stepped backwards.

"And Kathryn? When you get back to America, you will find out who did this, and you will tell me. I don't care where in the world I am, I don't care what time it is, and I don't care who it is. I want to be in on that conversation."

"Of course. Look, I didn't want you to know, but that doesn't mean I wanted to hide it. I just thought it'd be better if we presented the crime and the culprit at the same time."

Alex nodded a little, leaning back in the bed. "I understand. I do." Her smile was brittle, like she had to force it up. "Have someone get me a phone in here that can make international calls."

"What are you planning?"

"The impossible." For the first time, a grin touched the redhead's lips, but it rapidly became an unpleasant one. "You know what I'm going to do to these people, Kathryn."

"I do, yeah."

Pierce lifted her eyes to Shaw as the other woman turned. "You'd better not be one of them."

The brunette managed to blanch, even through her tan. "I'm not," she said.

The rhythmic click-clack of high heels on tiled floor echoed behind her, and Alexandra Pierce tried very, very hard to breathe.

---

Her daughter may have joked that she was some kind of ninja, but Alexandra Pierce didn't feel like it that morning. Her breathing was still labored, and her ribs still hurt. It had taken her nearly three hours to get the hospital to let her out, with the guarantee that she wouldn't fly anywhere for at least a day â€" and that was with Kathryn's assistance. She heard her own footsteps on the luxuriously carpeted floor, and she had to briefly touch the wall to keep herself upright.

The good thing about her line of work (the kind of work that didn't involve putting on tights and wrestling under hot stage lights every week) was that she'd long ago gotten used to breaking into hotel rooms. Hell, this wasn't even the first time she'd broken into what was ostensibly her own room, though admittedly her wheezy breath and personal stake in this particular mission made her hands shake as she lowered the card down into the slot. This was the tricky part; the click when she lifted it couldn't be masked. The key was to put as much distance between it and the actual entrance into the room as possible, so if the sound awoke the person inside, they'd be able to write it off as nothing.

She still held her breath out of instinct, which caused her injured ribcage to flare. She glanced back down the hallway, counting the seconds out in her head before she eased the door open. Her greatest fear was that â€" well, her greatest fear was that the room would be empty and Amy would be gone. But her second greatest fear was that Campbell might have done something crazy.

She kicked a small wine bottle. Something crazy like that.

Amy was passed out, and not even on the bed. She was splayed out on the floor, with covers torn from the bed wound around her. There were at least two other bottles on the ground, and not a few tissues to join them. Even asleep, she looked sad, and her dreams were fitful. Alexandra stepped over quietly, crouching down beside the woman. "I love you, dammit," she whispered. "Why do you never believe me?"

Campbell shifted slightly, groaning in her sleep. Her left hand slipped under her cheek, right flopping back to the floor. Alex wasn't sure how long she crouched there, a teary-eyed smile on her lips as she watched the other redhead sleep, but it would've been longer had her ribs not objected.

A hand to her side, Alex pivoted away to her luggage, stacked neatly in place by the door. In contrast to some of her colleagues, she traveled remarkably lightly, with just a single wheeled suitcase and a well-worn shoulder satchel to carry everything that was important to her. She pulled a small velvet bag from one of the satchel's many pouches, spilling its contents into her palm.

The copper ring was nothing spectacular, no flashy gemstones or eye-catching whorls, just a few bits of amber stone across the ridge and a sun etched into the side, She'd only intended it to be a pretty bauble, a gift, picked up in an Istanbul marketplace. Now it would serve as much more.

Pierce settled into her crouch again, gently taking the little redhead's right hand in her own. She slid on the ring, pressing her lips to the knuckle.

Pierce's eyes shone in the early morning. "God, I wish you had any idea what you meant to me," she murmured, snatching a pillow from the bed as she crossed to the other side. She stripped off her shirt, exposing the ugly bandage along her side, and settled down on the floor beside Amy. She tried very hard not to cry as she held the other woman, but wasn't entirely successful.

Amy stirred from sleep in little fits. Her brain shouted that she would regret what she'd done, but nothing quite fit. She groaned and rolled over, still not entirely awake.

"Hey..." Alex whispered, pressing her lips to the other woman's clavicle. "It's okay. Get some rest." Her fingertips slid down Amy's forearm.

"Mm." A gasp of air taken in through the nose was a sure sign that the little redhead was waking. She groaned, opening one eye to a slit, and smiled wide when she saw the woman near her. "My Al."

"Hi, there, sleepyhead." Pierce smiled; she almost always smiled when Amy did. "I missed you."

Campbell sloppily rolled to one side, draping an arm around Alex. She nuzzled her nose against the taller woman's neck, still grinning. "I don't even know what country we're in," she giggled. "I'm kinda drunk!"

"We're in the United Arab Emirates," Alex explained, adding drolly, "and on the floor." She winced at the touch. "Careful there, my ribs are... ah. Little tender. Turns out they're not broken, just... pretty badly bruised, andâ€""

Amy surprised her with a big, wet kiss on the cheek. "You are such a worrywart."

"I am notâ€"" Pierce sighed. "Okay, maybe I am a little bit of one, but still..."

A moment later, Amy's muscles tensed. She pulled away as her brain came alive again, reminding her of the past few days, even through the alcoholic haze. "I..." She sat up, rubbing at her eyes. "Why are you here."

"Because I love you. I thought that much was obvious."

"But..."

"But nothing. I love you, even when â€" especially when â€" you don't love yourself. Look, I know it's schmaltzy. It's cheesy. I'm supposed to be this big, bad, tough lesbian chick, but... I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm not changing my mind just because some assholes arranged for an embarrassing moment. It doesn't work like that."

"An embarrassing moment? I cheated on you, Alex."

Pierce's headshake was gentle, her hand propping up her head. "No, you didn't. You were date-raped, and believe me that's not a word I just throw around. You were used for this very purpose. They want you to feel like this, and I almost let it happen, and I'm sorry about that."

"I should feel this way." Amy's fists balled up tight enough that her short nails dug into her palms. "Drugged or not, I was capable of doing that. If some fucked up part of me hadn't been willing to, no chemical could have made me. I fucking did that." She followed her words by driving her fist against the ground.

She tried not to recoil and show the weakness, even when it felt like she'd fractured something, but she leaned forward, injured hand against her stomach. "Damnit! I fucking deserve this feeling. You should loathe me..."

That was when she noticed the ring, her swelling knuckles tightening around it. She raised her hand up in front of her face, scanning both the front and back, focusing on the jewelry the likes of which she hadn't worn since she'd been married. "What the hell did I do now?"

"That's from me." Alex rolled onto her back during Amy's outburst, stating up at the stucco ceiling. "You don't have to wear it, but I'd love it if you did. It's not an engagement ring â€" though I'd give you one of those, too, if I thought you'd say yes."

"Then what...?"

She rolled back, taking the little redhead's hand in her own. "It's a symbol," she whispered. "I will never loathe you. I will not abandon you. As long as you'll have me, I'm here." She ran her thumb over the etched sun on the nearside of the band. If anything, her voice only softened further. "As far as I'm concerned, you're my whole world. The sun rises and sets right here in your hands. I don't want you to forget that."

Amy's smile was a sad thing, and she wiped at her eyes with the back of her good hand, heaving a sigh. "Your world is really, really fucked up right now."

"My world generally is." Alex smiled gently. "I'm sorry you have to go through this because of me."

"I've done plenty of things to these people to merit being targeted."

"But you did them because for some reason I'll never fully be able to understand, you kind of like me."

"How are you ever gonna be able to look at me without thinking about it?"

Alex's smile became a little bit brittle. "I'm not." Amy's lips quirked again, her sadness threatening to swamp her mismatched eyes. "I'm not going to focus on what you did â€" I'm going to think about what was done to you. I've become lax. I thought Golgotha would finish this like a nuke, that it would destroy everything. But your father took that away from meâ€"from us. So I have to do this up close and personally, the only way I know how."

Amy shook her head, rising unsteadily onto her feet. "No," she snarled, picking up a fresh bottle from the mini-bar as she hobbled to the bed. "Whether it was Shaw herself or... or it was Malcolm, who knows. Whoever set it up did it to coax that side of you out of hiding, but they used me to do it. You might think you need to throw a strong front up, but more than anything else, I need to be the one to deal with this. I'm fucking done being that thing they tug on to get to you. I've been trying to turn the tide on all the damage that's been done to my body, just for some fucking wannabe super-villain to violate it? Fuck that."

"Your father would never do that to you."

"It seems like he'll do a lot of things we didn't think he'd do."

Alex shook her head; as someone who studied people the way scholars did books, Malcolm Girard was like a jigsaw puzzle with several pieces missing. "He has to have his reasons, and besides, there's a fine line between stealing from us and getting his daughter molested by a woman she hates."

"Shaw, then. I don't buy that she's suddenly being helpful just because we busted her out of custody. Six months ago, she was coaxing Lane into coming after us..."

"You underestimate Kathryn's ability to look out for herself. If she wanted to push me, there's no way she would fly twenty-nine hours to put herself in my line of fire."

"Well, she did try to keep me from telling."

"Yes, but not very hard, trust me." Alex brushed the hair over her ear. "I think maybe you just don't want her to be on our side."

"You think? I'm the one who had to hear about how hard I made her..." Campbell shivered. "Jesus fucking Christ, fuck my whole life."

Alex stood, pausing just long enough to suck her lip in with a wince. "I could tell you stories." She wadded up the crumpled sheet, tossing the mess to the other woman.

"I really hope you don't."

"She once agreed she'd only help a client if heâ€""

"Alex. What part of 'I hope you don't' did you misunderstand?" She tossed out the sheet in attempt to make the bed that could at best be called haphazard.

"I'm just saying that among the demented sociopaths I used to have for friends, Kathryn is at least the most fun." Alex eased herself onto the bed, mindful of her ribs. "I need you to promise me something."

"What she does to people is about the furthest thing from what I'd call fun," Amy sighed. "And why do I think I'll hate this promise?"

Alex slipped off her shoes, tucking her legs under the covers. "Just... I made her promise to let me in on whatever she finds. No matter who did this, tell me you won't fly off the handle until I'm there to have your back."

Campbell just shook her head.

"Amy, youâ€""

"I can't promise that." She sighed again, opened the bottle and took another drink, crumpling into the mattress. "I... you've got no idea what this feels like."

"No, and I won't pretend to. But this isn't just your fight, sweetheart. If you're right, if they're hoping to entice me to go back to that dark place, then you can damn well bet they will be ready for me, and I don't want you to go in there alone when they're expecting me."

Amy whipped a glare over her shoulder. "What exactly are you telling me to do, then? Wait untilâ€""

"Whoa, easy there, tiger." Pierce tried to smile. "I am suggesting that you not play the hotshot if you find out something. That's all. No playing hero, no charging in headlong against who-knows-what kind of enemy. And absolutely no sparing Alex because she's tired or her rubs hurt or she had a tough match the night before. Especially not because you don't want to lose me to some bullshit darkness inside of me. We're partners in this, and I have no problem with you driving the car as long as I get to ride shotgunâ€"which may or may not actually involve a shotgun."

"If they're prepared for you, they won't think a damn thing about me, and if I get someone alone..." Amy's head shook again, and another two gulps finished the little wine bottle. "And you don't need to remind me that it's not my fight alone, but it took my dignity, the last of my self-respect, my fucking sobriety, my... it took Malcolm..." Tears welled up, and the little redhead breathed in deep, coming to her feet. "This isn't gonna work, Alex..." She tugged at the new ring but, luckily for Alex, her battered hand had swollen too much around it. Instead, Campbell grabbed another bottle and stepped for the door. "All we're ever gonna be now is a conversation about this shit. He... he took the only thing you thought could set us away from it, and this... I just can't."

"Aim..."

"No," she snapped. "I'd rather drink myself to death than go through this over and over again, and it's not gonna... it's never gonna stop, okay? People will keep wanting to hurt you, and if they don't use me, they'll move on to Quinn. I'd rather... you'll eventually get over me being gone. You'll never get away from them opening new wounds with me here. I can be a sad footnote, a really depressing funeral, but I can't..." It took a moment for her to keep from crying, to set her jaw and put on a harsher expression. "My own fucking father couldn't even resist using me for some gain over you."

Pierce's brow curled in a frown. "I refuse to believe that Malcolm took Golgotha to get one over onâ€"" The little redhead made a small, pitiable sound in the back of her throat, and Alex shifted closer. "Just... just c'mere. Just breathe," she murmured, slinking an arm across the other woman's hip. "Shhh..."

"No," Amy repeated, spinning out of Pierce's grip and making for the door with a much quicker pace. "I can still make the 8:30 flight. You need this to happen."

"I don't."

"I fucking break people, Alex!" She had enough presence of mind to turn and reach for the bag her wallet was in, but nothing more. "I build them up and then fuck them up, and you know this. Sometimes I think it's why you thought I'd be useful in the first place."

Pierce was fleet of foot, and she swallowed her groan as she hurried for the door, physically interposing herself between the temperamental redhead and her exit. "No, dammit."

Amy tried to push past, but the taller woman was steadfast â€" and, moreover, she was injured, and Campbell couldn't bring herself to muster any real force. "Alex! You're not thinking straight!"

"I'm not?" Pierce's brows came up, but she never fought back, simply knocking away the other woman's hands and continuously, relentlessly stepping in for an embrace. "I am not moving, Amy. Not now, not ever."

The little redhead set her jaw. "Let me through..." she pleaded, only halfway comprehensible through her encroaching tears. "It's better for everyone if I go."

"It's not better for me." Alex repeated it over and over again, finally able to find a respite from Amy's desolate fury to step close and wrap her arms around the other woman. "It's not better for me, and I'm being selfish this time."

"Let me past."

"Not a chance in hell."

"Why not?" Amy shoved lamely, one final burst of energy. "What possible reason you have to want me â€" me of all people â€" around? You do so much better."

"You misjudge my prowess with the ladies." Alex tried to smile. "I stay because I love you, warts and all. You'll have to kill me to get rid of me." Campbell gave up the fight finally, slumping into the embrace, the sudden shift of weight nearly enough to knock them both over. "Careful now," Pierce said. "Ribs."

She half-led and half-dragged the little redhead back to the bed, not even letting go as they eased onto the plush mattress together. "There we are." She flicked away Campbell's bangs, her thumb to Amy's cheekbone to dry it. "Just lie back."

"I want this to be normal for once," was all Amy could manage to whimper. "Just once."

"It will be, baby." Alex wrapped both arms around the other woman. "I promise you that I â€" we â€" will find a way." She pressed a gentle kiss to Campbell's forehead. "It will be normal you'll be bored. I promise you that it will."

It was a promise she'd never be able to keep.

---

When the stories are written about the next few weeks, the people in the know will talk about the betrayals, about the father who loved his son, about the secret that nearly destroyed them all. They'll talk about death and destruction and the end of the way things once were.

But every story has a beginning, and only a very few people will know that this one began late one morning in a hotel in Abu Dhabi when a brunette named Kathryn knocked repeatedly on a door without answer.

"Dammit, open theâ€"" She cut herself off with a sigh, turning to glance down the hallway, but there was no sign of a maid. She stepped swiftly to a house phone, dialing the front desk. "Yes," she said immediately, thickening her voice. "This is Alexandra Pierce, and it seems that I have locked myself outside my hotel room, which is quite inconvenient for my preparations forâ€""

The nearby door thunked open, a disheveled little redhead wobbling in the doorway. "What the fuck are you doing?" Amy Campbell asked.

"Nevermind," Kathi said. "My companion within has stirred. Have a good evening." She hung up, trotting down the hall again. "Sorry, Iâ€""

"Was that your Alex impression?"

"I... yes. Look, I'm not the vocal mimic here." She stopped at the door, swallowing nervously. "I..." She would've given Amy a head-to-toe look glance, but got caught at the fuzzy slippers. "Never would have imagined you'd pack those."

"She likes hardwood floors andâ€"you know, I don't think that matters right now." Amy momentarily left the door to drape a sheet over her shoulders and forward more, adding extra cover to the paper-thin t-shirt and boyshorts she wore in lieu of pajamas. "What are you doing here?"

"Is Lexi up?"

"Of course not. I'm running the shower for good luck," Amy deadpanned. "Seriously, though. You. Here. Why?"

"Because I really wanted to ogle you in a little pair of shorts." She smirked, just long enough to earn her a glare. "Relax, I'm joking. I may have something." Shaw moved to the door, but Campbell didn't step aside. "You could move, you know."

"We're like eight thousand miles from home."

"A little bit more than that, actually."

Amy's brow arched. "And you found something out now?"

"That's... what I said."

"You didn't perchance have this information coming here and didn't want to share it until now?"

"When are you going to decide we're on the same side?"

"When I've got reason not to have a bad taste in my mouth."

Kathryn simply raised a brow, her smile curling as her hazel eyes bored into the redhead. "You want to rephrase?"

"That's awfully confident of you, and no, not particularly. Trust me, I've all but taken sandpaper to my tongue." Amy's arms folded. "And I still don't really buy that you weren't perfectly aware of what you were doing. Hell, I don't have any way of knowing you're not just gonna feed me bullshit to steer me away from thinking it's you. Thanks for asking how I'm feeling after admitting that to Alexandra, by the way."

"Please. I know you're okay, otherwise I'd have heard from Malik â€" charming kid, absolutely the smoothest skin you can imagine â€" that he'd had to keep you from catching the flight home." Shaw smirked, her brow coming up again. "She did tell you that, right? Anyway, I think I can prove Bronze ordered this entire nightmare, and you'll still think I did it, so everyone will be happy."

"Tell you what..." Campbell stepped closer, but only so she could lower her voice as the sound of flowing water from the shower tapered off. "You find me someone, give me even the slightest hint of proof that they ordered or had a direct hand in drugging me that night. After, you don't even dream of saying a word to Alex about what I do when given that opportunity. I'll see about trusting you then."

"As much as your trust means to me, Amy... right now Lexi's means a little bit more." Kathryn leaned close herself, a twist to her lips. "So unless you've got something else to offer, I'm going to tell her what I know. If you mean an end-around, you'll do it without my help, and so without her being able to blame me for what... for what Mr. Bronze does to you."

"I don't need your help, I need yourâ€"" There was shuffling behind the bathroom door, and Amy's voice became far quieter. "I need your silence, now justâ€""

Kathi leaned even closer still. "I need her more than I need you right now. But if you decide to do something stupid, feel free to look me up."

"Kathryn?" The voice behind them was hollow with surprise. "I thought you'd have left byâ€"do I want to know what you two are doing?"

"We're not doing anything," Shaw said quickly. "Just... you know, the usual. She's threatening my continued existence, is going to twist my head off my neck, etcetera, etcetera. Nothing for you to worry about."

"I... see." Alex was hard to read on a good day, but as she wound the towel around her head, it was positively inscrutable. "I assume you're not planning to stay in the doorway." She crossed briskly to the bathroom.

"I... no." The brunette stepped into the room, ducking past the little redhead. "I was just saying I think I mightâ€""

"Kathi," Amy hissed sharply, grabbing the other woman by the arm. "Don't tell her this, or I swear..."

"You'll ruin my life?" Shaw was dismissive. "Listen, Amy, I don't know what hold you think you have over me, but that woman in that bathroom is the most talented assassin in the whole world, and unlike you, I'm not personally invested in getting my revenge for myself."

Pierce returned, adjusting the fall of a lady bathrobe probably a little bit more risqué than she would ordinarily have worn. "And there you are whispering again. You're going to give me a complex."

"I think Kathryn was just leaving," Amy grumbled, giving Shaw's arm one last threatening tug before releasing it. "Weren't you?"

"No." She snatched back the arm. "I think I was telling you how I might have found something about the bastards who did this to us?"

"You said it wasn't concrete."

"I said it wouldn't be concrete until I got back to the States. I think it's solid enough that I should tell you guys before you split up and go about your hijinks-filled existences. I can see how you might have gotten confused, though."

"You've got no goddamn clue what you're talking about," Amy growled. "It's probably a crock you're feeding to keep us off your own damn trail." She crept closer to Alexandra, running fingers over her forearm. "How can we trust this? And how haven't you decked her yet?"

Alex's lips had thinned by then, and she stepped closer, looping an arm around Campbell's waist in an almost possessive gesture. "I'm thinking about it, believe me. You're about down to your last chance, Kathi. I'm trying â€" I'm trying really hard â€" to be reasonable here. If you've got something, now would be a good time to share it."

"Whoa, whoa." Shaw put both hands up. "Pull in the claws, hotshot. I just came here to talk." She twirled a chair into place near the bed. "Bear in mind that I am eight thousand miles from home, so the information I find will probably be a little bit sketchy, but I can get the confirmations you need when we get back home."

"Then can't it wait till then?" Campbell joined Pierce on the bed, walking across to the other redhead on her knees. "I mean, trust me, I want to know who did this more than both of you, probably." She sat down perpendicular to Alex, slipping her legs across the taller redhead's lap. "But I also don't want to fly off the handle on some half-assed information thatâ€""

"It's not half-assed, dammit." Shaw perched on the edge of the seat, her posture perfect and her brows pinned up. She looked down to her hands briefly (precisely when Amy slid her palm across Pierce's stomach, an observer might argue). "This is four days worth of investigation here."

"So two handjobs and some anal, you're saying." Campbell turned her head, dragging her lips up Pierce's shoulder, watching the brunette the whole time.

Kathi cleared her throat, her hand lifting to fan at her face. "Christ, how do you people live without the air conditioning on?"

"It's on," Alex said quietly, her thumb hooking into the waistband of Campbell's boyshorts. "So tell me you've found something."

"Yes and no. It... does the name Collin Wright mean anything to either of you?"

"Nope," Amy said, watching with no small amount of amused curiosity as the brunette squirmed. "I think we can skip to the Sherlock Holmes 'A-ha!' moment."

Kathryn frowned. "I'm not being theatrical if I don't want to explain... ah, explain things that I don't have to."

"Amy, please." Pierce cut in, her hand brushing across the little redhead's calf. "The longer you argue, the longer she has to stay here."

"Sorry, sorry." Campbell didn't sound apologetic at all, scooting behind Alex, her legs lazily looped around her. "Go on, then." It didn't take a professional to know that Kathryn was flustered, and Amy meant to keep her that way. "You're earning my trust back, remember."

The brunette's head bobbed a little bit, and she drew out her pink BlackBerry, thumbing open a note. "Collin Wright is the name of the man who delivered the tainted water. He'd worked there only for a few weeks, andâ€""

"Come on, Kathi â€" you and I have run this exact same con. There are too many places where the water could have been dosed. It doesn't have to be the deliveryman."

"True, it doesn't, but..." Shaw trailed off, as Amy had worked the knot loose on Pierce's belt, and slid a palm underneath. "Could you not do that right this very second?"

"Her ribs hurt," Amy shrugged a little, chuckling. "Figured a massage could help. Didn't think Kathryn Shaw would be so suddenly put off by public displays of affection."

"I'm not putâ€""

Campbell interrupted with a snicker. "Looks like there's something else on your mind."

"No, it's just..." Shaw sighed and straightened. "I feel like I'm the only one who gives a damn about stopping these people."

Pierce dropped her chin, smiling ruefully. "She's right," she said, curling her fingertips along Amy's forearm. "We should..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Amy relented, drawing her hand out from under the other woman's robe. "Sorry, it's just..."

"You don't need to explain." Alex interlocked her fingers with Campbell's. She drew their linked hands up to her lips. "I understand, believe me."

Amy smiled a little, but she'd be lying if it weren't mostly for show. "Alright, alright..." she said, sitting back. "Continue."

Campbell knew Shaw was flustered because she was thinking about the night they had together â€" Amy had no doubt Kathryn remembered more than she was letting on. Part of her was disgusted by that thought; that Shaw would be all worked up over thoughts of pleasure Amy couldn't even recall made her skin crawl. She wanted to lunge over and hit her, and keep hitting her until she didn't see that look in Kathryn's eyes anymore.

But while that would be satisfying, it wouldn't solve anything. Alex would stop the fight before any real damage had been done, and she'd still demand to know what Shaw had learned. No, the only way that Kathryn Shaw would shut her fucking mouth was if she left of her own accord, if her discomfort was so great that not even she could take it. No matter how ridiculous or grody it made Amy feel.

"So... Collin Wright." Kathi took a deep breath, turning her attention briefly to her phone. "I had Thoth... do you remember Thoth?"

"That hacker kid you used to cybersex with? Don't tell me you still have contact with him."

"We use webcams now, but..." She looked up with a proud little smile. "You don't just throw away an asset like--"

Amy's mouth found the point where Alex's shoulder met her neck, her teeth drawing a surprised inhalation and a long moan. Campbell met Shaw's eyes with an impish grin, one brow up in a silent challenge.

Alex tossed her head back, reaching up to caress Amy's cheek. "Jesus, Amy..."

Shaw shot up out of her seat, quickly transmuting her openmouthed shock into anger. "I swear to fucking Christ, you two are like a couple of horny teenagers!" She stepped away briskly, each stride stabbing irritably into the floor. "I have worked my ass off for nearly four fucking days, and all you can do is... is that?"

Her tirade got through to Alex, who extricated herself from Amy's grasp, lifting a hand as she stood. "Kathi, wait..." She looked back to Amy, who did her level best to seem unperturbed. "We can... we can control ourselves, at least long enough to hear what you've got, okay? Just sit down. Please sit."

Shaw straightened her blouse, sitting back down primly, her hands in her lap. "Let's just do this, okay? So Thothâ€""

"I'm sorry," Amy interjected, scooting to the edge of the bed to allow her to stand. "Al, can I see you for a minute?"

"Babe, can't this wait a few minutes?" Pierce's brows rose. "It sounds like Kathryn might actually have something..."

Campbell shook her head softly, taking both of Alex's hands loosely. "It can't," she insisted, tugging gently. "It really, really can't."

Pierce sighed as she followed into the bathroom. "We'll be right back," she said, scolding the door behind her. She turned to find Amy fetched up against the sink, nibbling at her lower lip. "Aim, what's gotten into you?"

"How does this not bother you?" she asked. "If the roles were reversed, I'd fucking kill her. I still might, actually. But you... you're just so okay with it. She's out there, looking at me â€" I think we tested that enough â€" thinking about what she remembers from a night where I'm completely blank. She's getting worked up, and you're just fine with it. You think this is just some stupid karma from when you lied to me, don't you?"

"I'm not fucking okay with it, okay? I know how I seem." She pushed off from the door, stepping close suddenly. "But I'm going to chew through my cheek listening to her... all flustered and, 'ooh, you're givin' me the vapors!'" Her Southern belle accent was predictably impeccable. "Like that shit isn't going to work, right? It's notâ€"not what you're looking for, is it?"

"What? Why would you even think that?"

"Because I... you were with her. And she's everything people want to be with. Pretty and successful and charming and I'm..." She tucked the hair behind both ears, taking a long, deep breath. "I want to hurt her for what she's done, even if I believe she didn't mean to. And I want to pin you down and make you scream for me, just to know that you still would."

"Do you even know why she's so upset?" Amy chuckled. "Because the mighty Kathryn Shaw couldn't manage to do what you do on an almost daily basis. I was so doped up, I don't remember a damn thing â€" I probably didn't even remember you existed â€" but you were still the only woman who could make me scream." She slipped her arms around Alexandra's shoulders. "You've got nothing to prove to her, and now that she knows it, she's jealous as hell."

"Yeah?" Alex's eyes lit up.

"You can see it in her face..." Campbell grinned. "She wants what's yours, but knows she'll never come close."

Alex stepped in tight, hands gliding across smooth, tattooed skin. "Did you just admit you were mine?"

Their eyes met, and Amy found she couldn't look away. "I... may... have?" She laced her fingers in the other woman's hair.

Pierce's thumb brushed across the little redhead's lips, dragging the lower one down a little. "What do you figure she's imagining is happening in here?"

"Right now? Hmm..." Campbell's grin widened as she pulled the other woman down to meet her lips. "She probably thinks you're practicing your wiles on me."

"I have wiles?"

"Mmhmm." She swept hair behind Alex's ear. "You definitely have wiles. Some of the best." She dragged her lips up Pierce's jaw, murmuring in her ear. "You know she's right outside, right?"

"You know I don't care, right?" Pierce growled softly. "Are you trying to push me?"

"Depends. Is it working?" Campbell wrapped her legs around Pierce's waist, but couldn't keep from crying out when Alex responded by lifting her up rammed her into the bathroom door. "Gah! Alex!" She reached behind her, accidentally-on-purpose thumbing the handle. The door flew open, both of them stumbling through to fall on the ground.

Kathryn looked over from the bedroom. "Well... guess I'll be going, then," she said drolly.

"Kathi, wait..." Alex began, but Amy just tightened her grip.

"Let her go, Al," she said. "You've got better, far more pressing things to deal with."

Shaw stood, sniffing derisively. "I'm sure you'd love for me to be around for this, but I'm not going to be your plaything."

"If that video was any indication, you already were." It took everything Amy had not to blush as red as her hair. "And not even decent enough for me to remember a second of you. Like riding in a hatchback Honda just so your Cadillac is that much comfier when you get home. I traded up."

"I... you..." Shaw set her jaw. "It's no wonder that my sister and Drusilla wanted to kill you." She strode briskly across the room, stopping at the door. "When you're ready to listen, you know where to find me."

"When you have something worthwhile to say, maybe we will."

The door thumped closed behind her, and Alex again moved to stand. "We should go after her. You needâ€""

"â€"to be left alone with you for a little while? I agree." Amy smiled. "We'll get the information later. She needed to be reminded of where she stands."

"But..."

She locked her ankles together behind Alex's back. "So help me, if you try to go after her again, I swear I will make like that chick from Goldeneye right now."

"Oh, really?"

Amy squeezed experimentally, drawing a low groan. Pierce slid her hand up the underside of Campbell's thigh. "Then you'll want to scoot up to here..." She coaxed the legs higher, her eyelids fluttering shut. "Oh, yeah..." She gasped, arching her back. "See the difference? A good squeeze there keeps my lungs from inflating all the way..."

The pressure eased almost immediately. "I hate imagining why you'd know something like that," she sighed, reaching up to sweep the flimsy robe from Alex's shoulders. "Careful of your ribs..."

"Forget my ribs." Pierce leaned down to nip at Amy's lower lip. "You can't stop now," she hissed, skidding her hand down that thin shirtfront and then lower. "I don't want you to be gentle. God knows I won't be..."

The next two hours were unrestrained and almost violent; in contrast to the gentle lovemaking they usually engaged in, that afternoon they were like an indoor whirlwind. They did close to a thousand dollars in room damages (but the hotel had Devin Shakur's credit card on file) and Alex's ribs were reinjured (but she didn't complain). It ended with Amy Campbell in a very familiar place, with her hands bound together with the sash from Pierce's robe, clutching onto the other woman for dear life as she cried Alex's name.

Perhaps more importantly, by the time either woman could move, Kathryn Shaw had boarded a flight to Munich for the long trip home, with what little she'd learned kept from Alex, just as Amy wanted.

It was a decision the little redhead would come to regret over the next few weeks.
View Desade's Biography
Back